Has any athlete or actor ever been more-hyped than former All-American linebacker turned action-adventure hero Brian Bosworth? Notorious for his steroid-induced aggressive on-field personality and highly recognizable with his signature earrings and blond modified mohawk haircut, the massive 6'2" two-time winner of the Dick Butkis Award as the best college linebacker in the country aligned himself with agent Gary Wichard, who engineered his ten-year $11 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks and began marketing him to Hollywood. His lackluster pro career was over in three years, and his film debut as a real-life maverick cop who infiltrates a biker gang in the 1991 action film "Stone Cold" did not make anyone forget about Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Bosworth had not fulfilled Wichard's predictions of becoming "The biggest box office star, period," but he did not give up on the action-hero dream. After a period of inactivity, he surfaced in his second feature, "Virus" (1996), and starred in three HBO movies featuring 'The Boz' persona he and his agent had worked so hard to create. "One Man's Justice" and "Black Out" (both 1996) as well as "Back in Business" (1997) signaled the beginning of a legitimate career for Bosworth, who seems committed to the long haul and may well tough it out. He also starred as John Lawless in the extremely short-lived Fox action series "Lawless" (1997). Unfortunately, steroids can not do for the actor what they did for the athlete, which is perhaps a good thing as they may have been a contributing factor in both making and breaking his first career.